Harlequin
by Zeakari
Summary: XANA possesses another student, Jordan, and tries to take Aelita to Lyoko. Takes place in Season 2.


Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko. Jordan is mine, though.

A/N: It's weird... I've written this story quite a while ago... huh. Anyway, to get this out of the way right away, this story kinda centers on my fancharacter Jordan, so anybody who doesn't like stories like that can go now. I know normally I would X3 Normally I wouldn't put this story up because of that, but I actually would like to know if I found a good balance with this one. I'm not sure because I'm the one who wrote it, ergo I'm not the one to make that decision. Also, some people actually asked for a story with her in it. Since this is my only sortof-finished story with her in it, I decided to put this one up. After months of working up the courage to do so. I'm a scaredy-cat like that. I decided not to reread it to check for mistakes I'm sure are there because if I do I know I'll back out on putting it up. Anyway, on to the story.

Harlequin

by Zeakari

* * *

It was about three in the morning at Kadic Academy. Everyone was asleep, sweetly dreaming secret dreams all of their own. That is, everyone except two. Two people were still awake, working hard into the night as if sleep was no longer a need to them. Neither of them knew the other was awake. The first of the two of them was Jeremie Belpois, working hard at his computer to try and find a way to free his friend, Aelita, from Lyoko and XANA. As he worked he glanced at the clock, noticing how late it was. He thought for a moment, then shrugged, deciding that he still had time to work. This was normal. He would always work late in the nights, not realizing the damage he was doing to himself, not finding it as important as what he felt he had to do.

The other person who was awake was not in her room like Jeremie was, but she was at a computer. She had a computer in her own room, but didn't want to disturb her roommate. This person was Jordan Wilde. She had sneaked out of the dorms to go to the computers in the library. She was typing up a poem she had been working on for a while. Like Jeremie, she glanced at a clock hanging on the wall, though having a different reaction than he had about the time, being shocked it was so late. She saved and closed the program and reached for the flash drive containing her files. Her hand quickly jerked back, though, when a painful shock hit her. She looked in surprise at her hand, seeing that her flesh had actually been burned. Seconds later, she blacked out.

Back in Jeremie's room, the boy had unwillingly fallen asleep at the computer. The super scan program had opened, detecting an activated tower, but with his head on the keyboard, he accidentally closed the program. He slept on, unaware of the danger.

* * *

"Jeez, Jeremie, you really need to learn to sleep at night," Ulrich said the next morning as his friend approached them.

He muttered something they didn't understand and he got a drink from the vending machine.

"He's right, you got circles under your eyes," Odd said, poking the boy on the side of the head.

"Quit it, " Jeremie said, moving his head away from the boy. "I did sleep last night, just not a lot."

"Hey, guys," the three boys turned and saw Yumi approaching them. She looked at Jeremie in a worried way. "Jeremie, you look awful. Did you sleep at all last night?"

"Of course I did," Jeremie said smirking slightly but becoming a bit irritated. "You all are worrying too much. I'm fine."

Yumi raised an eyebrow. "You don't look fine."

"I am."

She sighed in defeat and turned to the vending machine, placing a coin inside. "Okay, then." She picked her drink and turned back to the boy. "What's with XANA, do you know? There hasn't been any attacks lately."

The boy shrugged. "The scanner hasn't picked up anything at all yet."

She nodded and looked around, noticing someone was missing. "Where's Aelita?"

"She might still be in the showers," Odd piped up. "She tells me she always end up being one of the last to use them."

"Maybe."

* * *

Aelita sighed contentedly as she allowed the heated water to wash over her. She had finished cleaning herself, and was now enjoying the sensation of many warm droplets hitting her exposed body. These were one of the many things she drank in, having only begun to experience these all so recently. What others took for granted, she couldn't help but greatly enjoy.

She sighed, knowing she had to leave the showers at some point. She reached over to the handles and shut the water off, the warm, humid air in the room keeping her from becoming cold. She reached past the curtains and grabbed a towel, wrapping her body with it. Only after it was secured on her body did she step out to use her other towel to dry her hair with. After drying herself enough, she clothed herself and left the room, a towel still draped on her head with the other, along with her clothes, in her arms.

When she stepped outside, she almost jumped back when she saw a girl with pink pigtails standing in the doorway. She recognized her after a moment. This was the girl who was friends with Taelia, a girl who could pass as Aelita's twin. "Ah, hi….um…." she was embarrassed when she found herself at a loss for the girl's name

The girl didn't seem upset at this, though, grinning instead. "Hello, Aelita," she said. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Could you come with me a moment? I need your help with something"

"Um, I'm a little busy right now," the girl said, holding her clothes up a bit as an indicator.

The girl seemed to falter for a second before resuming her smile. "But it's really important. It won't take up much of your time."

Aelita furrowed her eyebrows. What could be so important that it couldn't wait for her to put her things away? "What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you. I have to show you."

Aelita sighed and nodded. "Fine, but please hurry. I don't want to hang on to these all day." She held up the clothes a little again. The girl nodded and grabbed her by the wrist a little more rough than Aelita felt comfortable with and pulled her along the halls. She began to grow confused and uneasy when the left the building from a doorway that didn't lead to the cafeteria or the vending machine area. "Where are we going? What needs my help out here?" She asked as they turned a corner around one of the other buildings. She pulled her wrist out from the other girl's grasp when she did not receive an answer. "Hey, I asked a question, please answer me."

She gasped when the girl whipped around, her eyes flashing with the mark of XANA. She was about to let out a loud scream to alert others, but she was punched in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. Before she could get up or breathe, she was kicked in the head, knocking her out. The girl quickly picked her up and ran into the woods, heading to toward the factory.

* * *

"Della Robbia, Odd?"

"Here."

"Delmas, Sissi?"

"Here."

Mr. Fumet continued to call of names while his students got out their books and the previous day's assignment. Odd and Ulrich looked back behind themselves at their friend, Jeremie. As soon as his name had been called, he had immediately laid his head down on the desk and hadn't moved since.

"Stones, Aelita?"

No answer.

"Miss Stones?"

Still no answer. Ulrich and Odd looked around the classroom in surprise. They had wondered before why she wasn't sitting next to Jeremie, but they figured she was just sitting in another part of the classroom.

"Jeremie, would you happen to know where Aelita is?" the teacher asked. He frowned when he received no answer and saw his head laying on the desk. "Belpois, what are you doing?"

"Uh, I think he might be sick, sir," Odd said, standing up.

"Yeah, he should go to the infirmary," Ulrich stood up too, catching on. "Can we take him?"

Jeremie groaned softly and sat up slouched in his seat, adding to what the two boys said. It was actually a groan of irritation, but no one else knew that.

"Alright, go," Mr. Fumet said.

The two boys helped a confused Jeremie out of his seat and left the room.

"What are you doing?" Jeremie asked

"Aelita is missing from class," said Odd.

Jeremie grew worried. "XANA?" He took his laptop out of his backpack.

"That's what we're thinking," Ulrich said.

Jeremie booted up his computer and was surprised to see the super scan had been turned off. "What the-?!" He quickly turned it back on and it showed an activated tower after a few seconds. "Call Yumi. We have to get to the factory as soon as possible. XANA's probably taking her to the Scyphozoa!"

They ran out of the school, the three of them heading toward the woods near the school. After running a ways into the trees, they stopped at a sewer entrance. Without hesitation, they opened it up and climbed inside, closing it carefully after them. Inside the dank sewer, three skateboards and two scooters waited for them. Ulrich and Odd each took the former while Jeremie took the later form of transportation. They rode through the sewers before finally reaching their destination. When they climbed out, they found themselves on a bridge which lead to an abandoned factory in the middle of a small lake.

They ran inside, using ropes as a faster route to the lower level. They landed in front of an elevator, opening it up and stepping inside. When it reached the control rooms level, the doors opened and they were surprised when Aelita suddenly ran inside, nearly knocking Jeremie over when she hugged him.

"A-Aelita?" the boy stuttered as he righted himself.

"What happened?" Ulrich asked. "Are you okay?"

The girl let go of Jeremie a bit and turned to Ulrich, nodding. "Yes, I'm fine. A little sore, but I'm fine." She rubbed at the sore spot on her head. "It's so strange. That girl who was possessed was going to send me to Lyoko, but before she got me to the scanner she passed out."

"What?" Odd scratched his head. "Why?"

"I don't know. We should go deactivate the tower before XANA can do anything else, though."

"Okay, I'll send you," Jeremie stepped out of the elevator before it closed and lowered to the next floor.

Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita stepped out of the elevator when they reached the scanner room. In front of one of the scanners, a girl with pink pigtails lay unconscious on the floor.

"Hey, I know that girl," Odd said, poking her side with his foot. "Yeah, her name is Jordan."

"That doesn't matter, enter the scanners," Jeremie's voice sounded from the speakers.

Jeremie typed the command to close the scanners after the others stepped inside. "Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Odd." He started up the scanners and selected the data each needed to enter Lyoko. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd." He entered one last command. "Virtualization."

There was a second's delay before he could see his friend's data on the screen.

"Where to, Einstein?" he heard Odd's voice ask.

"Head directly north," he responded as he uploaded their vehicles. "I don't see any monsters yet, but be careful. XANA never makes this easy on us…."

As he said this, a certain pigtailed girl one level below him stirred. Her eyes opened and XANA's symbol flashed where her pupils should've been. She snarled angrily in a distorted voice and clutched at her chest. Electricity flashed around her, filling her with energy. She stood up and entered the elevator, her hands already charged with furious energy.

Back up in the control room, Jeremie had just finished calling Yumi to come to the factory. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he heard the elevator start up. Yumi was definitely not _that_ close to the factory. Immediately his confusion was replaced with fear as he realized what it had to mean. He quickly locked down the elevator.

"Hurry up," he said into the microphone. "XANA's coming and I don't know if Yumi will get here before he does."

"Easier said than done, Jeremie," Ulrich responded. "We have to take care of these Hornets. Thanks for warning us, by the way."

"Sorry," Jeremie said, worried when he heard nothing from the elevator shaft. "I had to lock down the elevator." He jumped when he heard a loud smash from below. "I can see more then just Hornets, though. Two Tarantula's and a Megatank are waiting for you ahead."

Within the Mountain Sector of Lyoko, the two boys attacked the Hornets, fighting to protect Aelita from danger.

"XANA's being friendly today," Odd said sarcastically. He shot at the last Hornet, missing a few times before hitting and destroying it. He turned to where the other monsters were and began to fly toward them. He heard Aelita gasp and let go of his waist. "Don't let go, Aelita, it's just some stupid monsters," he said.

"Odd!" he quickly turned to her shout and saw that the Scyphozoa had pulled her right off of his board.

"Aelita!" he was about to go after her when Ulrich called to him.

"I'll get her," he said. "You try and clear a path for us, okay?"

Odd nodded and made an about-face, readying his arms.

Back on Earth, Jeremie had focussed his attention on Aelita's situation too much to notice the doors behind him being carefully and quietly opened.

"Hurry, Ulrich!" he urged as he watched the girl's memories being drained away. It had seemed to come out of nowhere, giving him no time to warn his friends. He squirmed in his seat, hating that he could do nothing to help. He let out a sudden shout when he was blasted with electricity, knocking him out of his seat. He looked up in time to see Jordan glaring down at him with XANA's eyes before her foot smashed down on his right arm. He heard a loud crack and screamed at the pain. The foot stomped on his arm again, this time the pain knocking him out. Jordan stomped his arm one more time for good measure, the cracks resounding off the walls seeming to satisfy the possessed girl's ears. She looked up and frowned at the screen, seeing that Ulrich had freed Aelita and one of the Tarantula's had already been destroyed.

"Useless!" the girl growled before slamming her hand on the keyboard, nearly breaking it before stopping herself. A grin spread on her lips and electricity hit it instead, starting up a program on the main screen. She walked to the edge of the elevator shaft and jumped down without a second thought.

A few seconds later, Yumi climbed down into the room, the elevator not working for her. She entered the room and gasped when she saw Jeremie lying on the floor.

"Jeremie!" she exclaimed and ran over to him. Her eyes widened when she saw his arm in an unnatural position, bending in more places than it should. "Oh man…" she bit at her nail, not sure how to help him. She blinked and looked at the computer in confusion when she heard a beeping sound. She stood and looked at the screen, seeing a countdown had just finished. She took the headset and placed it over her ear, hearing the sounds of a monster being destroyed. "Guys? Are you okay?"

"Yumi?" She heard Ulrich's voice respond. "Yeah, we're okay. Why are you at the computer? Where's Jeremie?"

"Get to the tower fast," she said simply. "He's hurt real bad."

"Right."

On Lyoko, after having destroyed the Megatank and other Tarantula, the three of them began to make their way to the tower once more. All seemed quiet for the rest of the trip. That is, until they began to near the tower.

"Hey, I see something weird on the screen…" they heard Yumi say. "I don't know what kind of monster it is… then again, I'm not very good at telling apart these icons…. What do you see?"

"I dunno," Ulrich said as he squinted. There was something at the tower, but he wasn't sure if what he saw was right. "I think it's… a clown?"

"W-What!?" Odd exclaimed, looking at the thing standing in front of the tower. Due to a childhood incident, Odd had a strong dislike of clowns. Ulrich was right. Standing there was a clown, or to be exact a harlequin, with orange being its main color. "What's that doing here?"

"I don't know," Ulrich said, frowning as they began to near the tower. "Maybe it's one of XANA's new monsters… It looks too human, though… and where's the eye mark?"

"Who cares, let's kill it!" Odd held up both his fists at the thing and began to shoot already, missing a lot because of his distance. "I hate clowns!"

"Right, you can distract it, Odd," Aelita said to him. She turned to Ulrich. "Let's try and go around the other way."

"Ah!" Odd shouted when the harlequin swung a large, round bell at him, nearly knocking him off of his Overboard. It was a wonder the thing was able to move so fast with such a large weapon. Then again, Lyoko's physics were different than Earth's. "C'mon! Is that your best shot?" He laughed, feeling great that he could take out his frustrations on something he disliked so much. "You should create things like this more often, XANA!" Suddenly the harlequin's attention was no longer on him, running over to the other side of the tower while a Tarantula materialized in her place. Odd scoffed in irritation. "No fair."

On the other side of the tower, Aelita was just about to try and enter it when the harlequin grabbed her and held her tight.

"No! Aelita!" Ulrich shouted, drawing his sward and revving his Overbike. "Let her go!" He wouldn't dare attack, though, in fear he would end up destroying Aelita too.

"I got her!" Odd jumped out from behind them and fired a few laser arrows. The harlequin was hit a few times before it swung its bell at him, barely missing. At this, Ulrich took his chance and sped toward them, his sword at ready. Before he got there, though, the harlequin reached out and grabbed a hold of one of the many wires that ran all through Lyoko. It and Aelita seemed to melt into the wire, disappearing before their eyes. "Watch out!" Odd shouted, barely jumping out of the way in time before Ulrich almost hit him.

"Where did they go? Yumi?" Ulrich looked up into the sky.

"I… they're moving so fast!" Yumi said. "I think they're _inside_ the wires. Wait, they stopped. Head southeast, and hurry."

"Right," Ulrich nodded. "Hop on, Odd."

Odd, whose vehicle had been destroyed during his fight with the Tarantula, did as he was told and the two of them sped of in the direction told.

Yumi watched them as they made their way to another side of the sector. She heard something stirring in the room and quickly turned, ready to fight incase it was XANA. She gasped when she realized it was Jeremie. She quickly got up off the chair and knelt down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, knowing that asking if he were all right would be pointless.

"Let's just say if we don't return to the past, my arm'll probably be permanently damaged," he said. He sucked in air through his teeth and gave her a shaky smile. "Please tell me they're at the tower."

"Well… they're actually moving away from the tower."

He groaned and closed his eyes. "Why?

"XANA made a new monster and it took Aelita-"

"What!?" Jeremie tried to sit up, but ended up crying out in pain when his arm moved.

"Don't get up!" Yumi said worriedly. "Don't move. It's okay, Ulrich and Odd are coming for her. They'll make it, I know they will."

The boy didn't say anything, but he bit down on his lower lip and nodded. She patted him on the head and gave him a reassuring smile before sitting back on the computer chair. She gasped when she saw the familiar screen displaying Aelita's memories being drained away.

"Hurry, guys!" she exclaimed into the microphone. "The Scyphozoa's got Aelita!"

"Where is she? Are we almost there?" she heard Ulrich's voice inquire.

"Yes. Do you see a big boulder up ahead? They're on the other side of it. Be careful, though, I see some monsters waiting for you."

Back on Lyoko, Odd let go of Ulrich and stood up in his seat a bit, surprising the swordsman "What're you doing?" he asked.

"You'll take care of the monsters this time, okay?" Odd responded. "I'll get Aelita from the squid."

The boy nodded and continued to speed toward the large boulder. Just as they reached it, Odd leapt off and landed on said rock as Ulrich made a sharp turn to go around. Odd grinned when he saw the Scyphozoa just on the other side.

"Eat laser arrow!" he shouted and began to shoot. The arrows didn't hit there target, instead hitting a large, familiar bell. "Not you again," he groaned when he saw the harlequin. He quickly leapt out of the way as she swung her weapon at him. "Ulrich! Get Aelita!"

"I kinda have my own problems, Odd!" the boy shouted back while he faced off against two Krabes.

"Aw man," Odd groaned again and dodged the bell once more. He hated making suicide moves. He leapt over his enemy and faced the Scyphozoa, ignoring the harlequin and thus leaving himself exposed to an attack from it. "Laser arrow!" he shouted, releasing as many arrows as he possibly could before getting hit from behind by a bell, devirtualizing.

Back in the real world, Odd fell out of the scanner, unable to stand for the moment. Lyoko took away any pain or fatigue while they were inside the digital world, but as soon as they left, it hit them hard. Being devirtualized by that bell left him feeling much like he did when he was crushed in the fifth sector once.

One level above him, Yumi sighed with relief when she saw the screen cancel, indicating that Aelita had been set free. She turned to Jeremie and smiled. "It's okay, they got her away from the Scyphozoa."

The boy returned her smile with a shaky one of his own. "Now all they need to do is get to the tower." He winced as his arm throbbed with pain. "Tell them to hurry, okay?"

She nodded and turned back to the screen, seeing that Ulrich, with Aelita on his vehicle, was already headed to the tower at top speed. "Don't bother with any monsters if you can, Ulrich, okay? Try to get to the tower as fast as you can."

"Right," was the boy's reply.

She saw him speed up a little, leaving that unidentifiable monster, which had been chasing after them, in the dust. Except for some Hornets, they made it to the tower without much trouble. Aelita entered the structure and typed in the code. Yumi typed carefully while Jeremie instructed her, careful to not hit any wrong buttons and make any regrettable mistakes.

"Right," she turned to Jeremie when she finished. "Get some sleep, okay?" When he nodded, she pressed the enter key, activating the bright white orb that engulfed everything.

* * *

It was about three in the morning at Kadic Academy. Everyone was asleep, sweetly dreaming secret dreams all of their own. That is, everyone except one. One person was still awake, working hard into the night as if sleep was no longer a need to them. She was typing up a poem she had been working on for a while in the school's library. She stared up at the clock with a frown on her face, noting how late it was. She looked back at her program, staring for a moment before saving and closing it. She was about to reach for her flash drive which contained her files, but hesitated. She rotated her arm so the side of her arm was to touch it instead of her hand. She quickly tapped it, flinching back. When nothing happened, she cautiously wrapped her hand around it and pulled it out, staring down at it before placing it inside her pocket. She headed back to her dorm room, tired.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. Jordan Wilde stars in a Code Lyoko fanfiction. Isn't it wonderful? Yeah, this is the reason why she ends up being semi part of the group at all. Yes yes, another OC-in-the-group story, but y'know, this isn't quite finished. I was actually going to have this be chapter one of a longer story, but I kinda like how it can just sit alone by itself for now, y'know? Yeah. I probably won't be putting up the next part cuz I never finished it. I keep working on it little by little but it keeps sucking harder and harder. Oh well. For now I'll just leave it like this.

Though I must say... reviews _do_ make me want to write more… hint XD


End file.
